Leslie Knope

Pawnee, IN
+15555550142
leslieknope@example.com
GitHub
LinkedIn

Summary

Public-sector program leader with 25+ years building parks, civic infrastructure, and community programs for a mid-sized municipality. Strong at zero-to-one initiatives, moving projects through permitting and budget review, and leading teams of planners, rangers, and volunteers.

Experience

Midwest Regional Parks Alliance

Regional Director, Midwest Region
  • Direct a regional office overseeing 60+ parks across nine municipalities, with a $14M budget and 140 staff.
  • Built the region’s first shared grant-writing practice, raising $6.2M over four years for member towns.
  • Launched an open data program publishing park conditions, budgets, and project timelines.
  • Brought 38 non-compliant sites into conformance with new regional accessibility standards.

Pawnee City Council

Councilwoman, At-Large
  • Authored the municipal parks accessibility ordinance covering every city-owned recreation site.
  • Negotiated a shared trail maintenance agreement with three townships, saving $95K annually.

Pawnee Department of Parks and Recreation

Deputy Director
  • Ran operations for a 12-person department covering maintenance, permitting, and public events.
  • Led the Lot 48 remediation and park conversion:
    • Shepherded the site through 18 months of environmental review, zoning, and public comment.
    • Assembled a coalition of neighborhood groups and sponsors to close a $340K funding gap.
Parks Planner
  • Maintained the inventory of 42 parks and trails, and wrote the grants that funded three playground rebuilds.

Skills

Program Management Public Policy Municipal Budgeting Grant Writing Community Organizing Stakeholder Engagement Capital Projects Parks & Land-Use Planning Permitting & Compliance Event Production Coalition Building Open Data & Reporting GIS Mapping

Selected Projects

Harvest Festival

A ten-day autumn festival rebuilt from a break-even county fair into the parks department’s largest revenue source, growing from 4K to 87K attendees.

Event Production Sponsorships Budget Management Volunteer Ops

The Commons (Lot 48)

Conversion of an abandoned municipal lot into a nine-acre public park with a playground, amphitheater, and community garden.

Capital Projects Environmental Review Community Engagement

Regional Parks Open Data Portal

A public portal publishing park conditions, capital budgets, and project timelines across every member municipality. Now mirrored by six peer regions.

Open Data GIS Mapping Public Reporting

Education

  1. Pawnee State University, Bachelor of Arts, Political Science Sep 1993 - May 1997
  2. Wamapoke County University, Master of Public Administration Sep 1997 - May 1999